Hearing loss affects one in every three adults in the United States between the ages of 65 and 74, and over half of those over 75 have difficulties hearing. Hearing loss can make it difficult to understand and follow medical advice, respond to warnings, and hear phones, doorbells, and alarms.
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Why Do We Gradually Lose Our Hearing as We Age?
As you become older, a variety of factors might contribute to hearing loss. It can be difficult to separate the age-related hearing loss from hearing loss caused by other factors, such as long-term noise exposure.
Long-term exposure to noises that are either excessively loud or last too long causes noise-induced hearing loss. This level of loudness can harm the sensory hair cells in your ear, which allows you to hear. When these hair cells are destroyed, they do not regenerate, and your hearing acuity suffers as a result.
Conditions that are more common in older people, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, can contribute to hearing loss. Medications that are toxic to the sensory cells in your ears (for example, some chemotherapy drugs) can also cause hearing loss.
Rarely, age-related hearing loss can be caused by abnormalities of the outer ear or middle ear. Such abnormalities may include reduced function of the tympanic membrane (the eardrum) or reduced function of the three tiny bones in the middle ear that carry sound waves from the tympanic membrane to the inner ear.
Most older people who experience hearing loss have a combination of both age-related hearing loss and noise-induced hearing loss.
Age-related Hearing Loss – Presbycusis
Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) is the progressive loss of hearing that most of us experience as we become older. It is one of the most frequent diseases afflicting older and elderly people, and it affects both ears equally. Because the loss is gradual, you may not know you’ve lost some hearing capacity if you have age-related hearing loss.
It can be caused by a variety of factors, usually by changes in the inner ear as we age, but it can also be caused by abnormalities in the middle ear or by complicated alterations in the neuronal pathways connecting the ear to the brain. Certain medical issues and drugs might also be factors.
It is most commonly caused by changes in the following locations:
- Inside the inner ear (most common)
- Located in the middle ear
- Along neural lines leading to the brain
Other factors that influence age-related hearing loss include:
- Constant loud noise exposure (such as music or work-related noise)
- Hair cell death (sensory receptors in the inner ear)
- Factors inherited
- Aging
- Several medical diseases, such as heart disease or diabetes
- Some drugs, such as aspirin and some antibiotics, have side effects.
What Should I Do if I Have Presbycusis?
Age-related hearing loss – Presbycusis may be dangerous, and the first essential thing you can do if you suspect you have a hearing impairment is to get medical attention.
There are several sorts of specialists that can assist you. You should consult your primary care physician, an otolaryngologist, an audiologist, or a hearing aid expert first. Each has a unique set of qualifications and experience.
- An otolaryngologist is a specialist in the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses of the ear, nose, throat, and neck. An otolaryngologist, often known as an ENT, will investigate the cause of your hearing loss and provide treatment choices. He or she may also recommend you to another type of hearing practitioner, known as an audiologist.
- An audiologist has received specific training in determining the type and degree of hearing loss. Some audiologists are authorized to fit hearing aids.
- A hearing aid specialist is someone who is certified by your state to administer and assess basic hearing exams, provide advice, and fit and test hearing aids.
What Therapies and Devices Are Available for Presbycusis?
Your therapy will be determined by the severity of your hearing loss, therefore some therapies will be more effective than others. When you suffer from hearing loss, there are several devices and aids that can help you hear better.
Hearing Aids
Hearing aids – are electrical devices worn in or behind the ear. They increase the volume of sounds. You may need to test more than one hearing aid to discover the one that works best for you. Work with your hearing aid provider until you are confident in putting on and taking off your hearing aid, adjusting the volume level, and changing the batteries. Hearing aids are not usually covered by health insurance, however, some are.
Cochlear Implants
Cochlear implants are tiny electronic devices surgically placed in the inner ear that enable persons who are severely deaf or hard of hearing to hear. If you have significant hearing loss, your doctor may consider a cochlear implant in one or both ears.
Bone-Anchored Hearing Devices
Bone-anchored hearing devices avoid the ear canal and middle ear by utilizing your body’s inherent capacity to transfer sound via bone conduction. The sound processor detects sound, turns it to vibrations, and then transmits the vibrations to your inner ear via your skull bone.
Assistive Listening Devices
Telephone and mobile phone amplifiers, smartphone or tablet “apps,” and closed-circuit systems (hearing loop systems) in places of worship, theaters, and auditoriums are examples of assistive listening technologies.
Lip Reading or Speech Reading
Lip reading or speech reading is another alternative for persons who have difficulty hearing conversational speech. People who employ this strategy pay great attention to the speaker’s lips and body movements as they speak. Specialized trainers can teach you how to lip read or speech read.
Hearing Loss in the Workplace – Workers Compensation
Workers Compensation was founded in 1911 to encourage businesses to make workplaces safer by mandating safety programs and the installation of safety devices.
Over 2.5 million workers’ compensation claims have been lodged since 1911. Hearing loss workers’ compensation claims are currently the third most common occupational sickness claim.
Workers’ compensation for hearing loss is a relatively unknown benefit that covers hearing health treatment, which is frequently uninsured. Many health insurance policies and programs, such as Medicare, may not cover the cost of hearing aids, but workers’ compensation may. It also compensates for hearing loss handicaps, as it does for loss of vision or other afflictions.
Aging populations, technological advancements, and increased sensitivity to hearing loss are focusing increasing attention on funding hearing health care. Those who qualify for hearing loss workers’ compensation claims are mostly retired hearing-impaired employees on fixed incomes.
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If you, or anyone you know, worked in noise and suffers from hearing loss, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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